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A Psychology Degree Can Lead to Different Career Paths

Popular Careers for Psychology Graduates

A psychology degree will prepare you for a number of rewarding careers, including counseling, research, social work, and law enforcement, and their number is expected to grow by more than 15 percent through 2020.

Undergraduate Psychology Degrees Prepare You For a Multitude of Careers

Most undergraduate psychology programs are divided into these areas:

General psychology: This program provides a fundamental overview of the science of behavior and human experience. It provides the framework that establishes communication skills, critical thinking, and knowledge of the human mind. This degree can lead to psychology graduate work or to a position in law, management, or customer service.

Clinical psychology: This program gives students a rudimentary knowledge of counseling. While you can’t counsel patients with an undergraduate psychology degree, you can now enter into a graduate or professional program that will continue your education and enable you to enter into a variety of professions, including social work, child care, and police work.

The following careers are trending on job outlook reports for psychology undergraduate and graduate majors:

Psychology degree job trends

Career counselor

Career counselors help people find a career that fits their educational background, lifestyle, personality, as well as their work history. They are trained to administer tests and evaluate career potential in individuals. Career counselors also assist their clients by helping them write resumes and prepare for job interviews.

Social workers are problem solvers, whether they work by counseling people or gathering information. They help individuals and families locate services and navigate the road to resources that may be available to them. In a healthcare setting, they may help patients and their families make decisions about care; in a government setting, they can provide access to forms and documents that are needed for a family’s comfort and safety.

Employed by: Local and state government, social welfare departments, and hospitals, schools, and mental health clinics

Child psychologist

Child psychologists are trained to work with children ages 18 and under. Children’s psychological needs are not the same as an adult’s needs, and they require specialized guidelines that are tailored to a child’s psychological profile, which includes social, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive development. Many techniques used by child psychologists are not common within the “typical” clinical environment and are instead designed for a child’s outlook.

Employed by: public and private elementary, middle, and secondary schools, government agencies, law enforcement, healthcare settings, and in private practice

Sports Psychologist

As a trainer works to condition athletes’ bodies, a sports psychologist works to improve athletes’ mental facilities. This kind of psychologist also learns how kinesiology is related to psychology and how they work in tandem. Athletes often can improve their performance while working with a sports psychologist and can also receive counseling for both mental and physical health-related issues.

Employed by: Any place that has amateur or professional athletes, including youth sports organizations, university athletic departments, professional sports leagues, as well as in private practice.

Robert Morris University has a top-ranked undergraduate psychology program that offers clinical, general, and sport psychology tracks. Call us today to learn more!